HR Application

In this discussion, you are taking on the role of the director of HR at a large legacy truck manufacturer in the United States. The company has a line of long-haul tractor and trailer products that are on the high end of the market. These are large vehicles that pull cargo trailers used on the nation’s highways in single-modal and bimodal transportation applications. The industry is in the process of developing self-driven vehicles, which will be completely autonomous and save their customers a great deal, as only specific cargo will require the presence of a driver or security professional. The challenge is that the employees do not have the knowledge required for full design, development, and manufacturing of the required technologies. There are four technologies necessary for autonomous vehicles to operate. Two are new and two have been around for a while. Only one of these new technologies is in partial use by the company. Note: The company does not own or lease any trucking-based operations; these companies are their clients and will be facing major restriction issues that are not in play with respect to this discussion.

Respond to the following:

• What HR strategy-based actions would you recommend as the director of HR?
• What tools would you use to craft and implement the strategy-based actions you are recommending?
• What major challenges do you see for the organization in transitioning to autonomous truck manufacturing?
• Are there any new opportunities that the firm may take advantage of?